Email this link to a friend.

We see a significant number of patients who have failed IVF cycles in clinics in smaller cities in India. This tends to keep us very busy as all these patients have borne the brunt of getting treated by technically incompetent and inexperienced doctors who lack the expertise to do IVF the way it should be done. It’s appalling to see the poor quality of medical care which these smaller IVF clinics provide.

Most have been set-up only as a response to the massive demand for IVF treatment in our country today. Instead of referring infertile couples to a credible and established clinic, senior gynecologists in these smaller towns are eager to get their piece of the IVF pie. If these clinics have a good success rate, it can really be a good thing for these patients as the latter don’t have to then travel all the way to the cities to take treatment- it means, the entire process becomes easier for them and the expenses are a little lower too.

The Shortcuts Doctors Take

Unfortunately, the level of care that these clinics provide is lacking in a number of ways. Neither do they have the infrastructure, nor the experience or the expertise to provide IVF treatment and are also tempted to take shortcuts. They tend to treat patients in batches. IVF specialists are flown down from Mumbai to help make up for their lack of expertise and knowledge.

Unfortunately, a lot of these patients are very poorly informed; they do not have the exposure or the knowledge to differentiate between a good clinic and a bad one. The problem is that most patients fail to do their homework before they go in for their first IVF cycle and by the time they learn a little more about how the treatment works, it’s too late and they have lost time and money and are emotionally fraught as well.

The Scare Tactics

Though many patients are aware that the care at Malpani Clinic is distinctly better, the doctors at their local IVF clinics use scare tactics to keep patients from going to Mumbai. Their fear is that even if they go there for a basic consultation, they will lose the patients to the better clinics in the city which would burn a hole in their own pockets even before it gets filled. Believe it or not, they literally scare the patient from going to Mumbai by saying things like:

Traveling back and forth after getting the embryo transfer done in Mumbai, will make the embryos fall out

They tell the patients that they will have to take at least 15 days of bed rest after the transfer- and going to Mumbai isn’t going to permit them to do that

They barrage the patients with various myths and misconceptions and will also concoct horror stories about how patients have developed a lot of complications after going to Mumbai

Importance of Information Therapy

It’s no surprise that patients then get worried about continuity of care; but they also don’t want to fall out of favor with their local doctor. The one way patients can navigate these hurdles, is to invest in Information Therapy; that’s the only way they will be able to protect themselves. No doubt, the inconvenience and short-term expenses of traveling to Mumbai are a distinct deterrent but in the long-term, it proves to be a much more cost-effective treatment. This is because the priority should be to maximize the success rate in the first IVF cycle itself.

Too Much at Stake

When it comes to IVF, there is so much at stake- your peace of mind, money, time and energy; and it doesn’t really make sense for patients to take a chance and opt to do IVF at a second-rate clinic, just so as to save a few thousand rupees. If they do end up doing IVF at these types of clinics, chances are they will rue their decision in the future. The logic being simple- If the first cycle at the local clinic fails, they just may not have the funds to see them through another cycle at a better clinic.

The one thing patients should keep in mind is that the cost of getting IVF treatment in Mumbai isn’t too much higher than what clinics in smaller towns charge. As a matter of fact, treatment at Malpani Clinic often turns out to be much more cost -effective because of our high success rates.

Want to maximize your chances of IVF success? Need more information? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you better!